


Weight

by Woodface



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-17
Updated: 2014-02-17
Packaged: 2018-01-12 21:10:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1200763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Woodface/pseuds/Woodface
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They meet up afterwards, while Cobb is finally seeing his children again and none of them wants to trespass on the moment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Weight

**Author's Note:**

> Right after the movie came out, my muse insisted on writing a bunch of Inception fics. It took over my mind in what was a period of prolificness that I hadn't experienced in ages. It finished the fics and was then quite content to let things be and not touch them again. As I never did find a betareader, I forgot about them. I'm giving these a second chance now. Sadly, it's still unbetaed, but hopefully its flaws can be forgiven.

They meet up afterwards, while Cobb is finally seeing his children again and none of them wants to trespass on the moment. Eames suggested the place and Ariadne finds herself surprised it isn't nearly as seedy as she'd been imagining. It's just the four of them now, talking quietly and comparing stories. Arthur is grilling them, wanting to finally know what happened and Eames gives her a look, leaving it all up to her. She does her best to answer without saying too much. This is Cobb's story as well and much of it she'd rather he explain. She thinks she manages alright, but she knows he's piecing it all together. When she's done, it's Yusuf's turn, but his story is brief and soon they're all waiting for Arthur to fill in their blanks.

He ignores the silent question and she prods him. "I thought you said it'd be impossible to shock us without gravity," she urged him. She hadn't thought about it down there. Standing in the middle of the snow, waiting for Mal to mess things up, she'd simply accepted Cobb's comment that they'd have to wait for the second shock. Only now she remembers Arthur's explanation about the timing and she wonders how he can seem so collected. Honestly, looking around the table, she has the suspicion that she's the only one who seems affected by everything that went down.

"I did," Arthur agrees, reaching for the beer in front of him. Somehow Arthur and beer don't go along in her head.

"So?"

He glances up and she thinks she might be the only one to notice the brief flash of pride in his eyes before he shrugs casually. "Don't you remember where you woke up?"

She frowns and it's all a series of flashes, images that move too fast to fully process. Falling down the skyscraper. A room, too small to be the hotel room she'd gone to sleep in. The van, trying to breathe in water before something was pressed to her lips and a hard squeeze in her shoulder forced her to open her eyes and her mouth. Precious air and Arthur's there and not Cobb. "Can't say there was much time to take notice."

"I got you all in the elevator and made it drop," he says matter-of-fact and takes a huge swallow from his beer. She wonders if maybe he's just a little rattled, but even after the longest flight in the world, he's crisp and clean and not so much of a hair is out of place. It makes her possibly feel even more gross than she is.

"And here I thought you didn't have any imagination," Eames piped up. "There's hope for you yet, darling." The friendly clap on Arthur's shoulder has him falling forward a little and he splutters and wipes his upper lip, rolling his eyes at her. Ariadne hides her grin behind her glass.

Somehow the conversation drifts away from the job, they're laughing and talking like they didn't just change someone's life completely. Flashes of the dream keep blocking out everything else and she misses parts of whatever Eames is telling, forces a laugh and tries to ignore the way Arthur's looking at her. It seems like they might be there forever when Eames suddenly gets up, his chair scraping the floor harshly and Ariadne winces.

"Excuse me, ladies," he's smirking as he pulls up his collar. "I believe there's a lovely woman just waiting for me to join her. Don't wait up for me."

Arthur snorts, but Eames is already heading for the bar and conversation falls silent. She looks to her left to ask something to Yusuf, only to find the seat empty and she's about to ask when he left when she notices Arthur's gaze fixed on her. She's too tired to try to figure out what it means and looks away, notices Eames leaning into the blonde and she doesn't want to see that either.

"Did you arrange for a hotel?" Arthur forces her attention back to him.

She shakes her head, feeling stupid. She thought they'd go somewhere together, but Saito disappeared and Cobb had his mind elsewhere. Not that she blames him, but she'd been imagining this differently. She hadn't quite expected them to split up from here, but by the looks of it Eames isn't coming back, Yusuf's gone and Arthur's already made plans. "I'll figure it out."

His fingers are curled around the empty glass and she remembers the heat of them on her arm. Just a soft touch to make sure that she'd woken up along with him despite that they'd been sitting at the edge of the river together. She understood his concern, because for a moment Cobb and Saito weren't moving and his quiet concern had been the totem she needed.

"Or you could just get a room at the same place," he reasons. "I've stayed there before, it's decent."

"Alright," she nods. There seems little point in arguing and her agreement makes him rise to his feet. He pulls his wallet from his pocket and puts another bill with the rest of the money on the table.

The walk is as much a haze as everything else that evening. They don't talk but he's right there and maybe it's his fault that she can't seem to think straight anymore.

The hotel lobby is sparse and modern, much like some of the architecture she's seen inside his mind. It's the sort of hotel men wearing finely pressed suits and ties would stay in, but she remembers that after this she doesn't need to worry about money for a little while. She takes a step towards the front desk, but those same warm fingers curl around her wrist and something inside her tightens in response. He's close, much too close, and his breath is warm on her cheek. He's still not talking and she's a tiny bit pissed at him for it, because he doesn't need to say it.

They don't wait for the elevator, but take the stairs up. He hasn't let go of her, his thumb pressed against her pulse and if he can feel her heart racing, it's because her legs are shorter than his and he's taking two steps at the time while forcing her to keep up with him. They're in his room soon enough and he turns towards her, opens his mouth but by now she doesn't want to hear it. She's leaning up against him, one hand keeping a hold on his tie to keep him right there as she kisses him. There's nothing chaste about it. It's heat and tongues teasing and his arms are around her.

She soon learns that Arthur is anything but rigid. His body fits against hers easily, as if they'd been doing this for a while. She's very sure they haven't and she decides that they're just that good. Her fingers are undoing his tie, tugging at it. There's something gratifying at finally getting the thing off of him and she's undoing his shirt while his hands slide under her top. She moans against his mouth as his fingers slide over her stomach.

Everything is white heat except for the wall against her back. They might just never make it to the bed. She doesn't care. Not as long as Arthur's lips are teasing down her throat. Her eyes drift shut and her fingers tangle in his hair. There's nothing clean and proper about him now. She's mussed his hair up, the strands are smooth and tickle at her palm. The suit is crumpled now, the tie lying somewhere at their feet and she thinks with pride that she did this. Except that he's making her knees buckle and for the moment, he's winning. He's caught her off guard and she wonders how she could ever let that facade of his deceive her. A voice that doesn't belong in her head reminds her of just how little she knows and Ariadne goes still, trying to will it away. Trying not to see the home inside a skyscraper. The knife on the table.

"What's wrong?" the words are whispered against her skin. She can hear his concern and his hands still on her skin.

"Nothing," she lies and turns her head, her lips seeking his but he draws back, dark eyes studying her. She reaches up, brushes his hair back from his forehead. He looks so different now and she wonders if the suits are his way of keeping dreams and reality from bleeding into one another. Maybe she should start wearing them too.

"Ariadne," he whispered, one hand slips out from under her shirt and he rests it on her cheek, forcing her to keep looking at him.

"Cobb let her go," she says, staring at his shoulder. She can't imagine how much it would take to let go of those memories and dreams.

"Good," Arthur presses his lips to her brow and then he wraps his arms around her, pulling her tight against his body. "He should have a long time ago."

She doesn't think it's that easy. The guilt Cobb had piled up, she couldn't have lived with it. She lets him pull her to the bed and she watches him as he kneels down and starts taking off her shoes. Somehow the creased suit still looks neat on him. "I'm not sure how you haven't all lost your mind ages ago."

He slides his hand up her calf as he shifts forward, placing himself between her legs. "There's a couple of tricks," he's smirking and she grins back at him, reaching for his shirt to pull him up on the bed with her.

"Teach me," she murmurs as he presses his lips against hers. She pushes his shirt off and wraps her arms and legs around him. He settles on top of her and she thinks that in time this could become as familiar as the weight of her totem.


End file.
